Hot chamber therapy & dinner with maternal grandparents (7th July 2009)
Ah-Kong, my maternal grandpa, came over to have coffee with me at home this morning. To me, he didn't really age much - still the same towering figure I always remembered since young and driving that old beat-up Mercedes of his (urm, how's his vision?? isn't he like 70+???). And some things just never change, like him insisting that I must marry a Chinese man. Right...There is absolutely no point arguing with him because I'll just end up getting an earful (yes, been there, done that, don't try again) :P
More shopping after breakfast with mum and dad, followed by 'bah kut teh' (literally translates to 'meat bone tea') for lunch in Taman Bukit Pasir. Yum! I miss this meaty pork rib dish that's simmered in Chinese herbs and spices. Definitely too hot for the weather here but I just love it! We had it served with yam rice and small side dishes of stir-fry sweet potato leaves, salted vegetable and vinegar pork trotters (a popular dish for women during confinement and very appetizing). Cost RM35 for the meal for 3 which barely feeds 1 in Wellington. SO cheap!
Brief stop with Mum to pick up Mama and headed over to her friend's boutique clothes shop in Kampung Merdeka. Hmm, didn't see anything I like there - not my style...Dropped Mama home and around 5pm, Mum and I headed to Fo & Fo Beauty Fitness Centre (also partially an Espressions International beauty centre) on Jalan Puteri for me to try their Hot Ceramic Chamber Health Therapy sessions. Mum had several free sessions from her full package so took me along to try it out. She had been emailing me about it before I came back, saying it was somewhat similar a sauna but I had to sit inside a chamber that looked like a large urn. Hmm...
The beauty centre only had 1 chamber so I went ahead for today's treatment while Mum just accompanied me. Before we started the therapy session, the beautician had me stand on a machine that measured not only my weight but also the amount of minerals like protein, fat, water and how fit I was. The result of the initial body check advised that I needed to lose 2kgs of fat and replace it with muscles! Really??!!
We then proceeded into the treatment room where I had to remove all my clothes and put on the disposable shower cap and underwear provided, then climbed into this massive pot/urn aka 'the chamber' which had a stool with a towel on it for me to sit on for the next 30 minutes. Once in, the beautician closed the small door of the chamber and placed a large semi-circle wooden plank to cover the top. All you could see was my head sticking out! The chamber was then turned up to 47 degrees Celcius but interestingly, the urn itself was not hot to the touch. I could feel lots of steam and water dripping from all over my body - not sure if it was just steam or a mixture with sweat from my pores. According to the DVD played for me while I was having the treatment, it is believed that the ceramic urn had healing properties and is able to cure illnesses such a eczema, back pain, fatigue etc. I found it hard to believe though it felt rather nice sitting in a sauna-like environment. During those 30 minutes, I was given 5 cups of mineral water (the water was from a special pot made with the same ceramic properties as the chamber) to sip on. And of course, mum was there chatting with me the whole time :)
Another body check was conducted post-therapy and I've gained 600 grams in water and increased my protein and mineral counts by 0.1%. How bizarre! Have 2 more free sessions to go to later this week. Need to bring my camera in to snap photos of this urn next time!
Dinner tonight was at Restaurant Chor in Kampung Merdeka with my parents and maternal grandparents. Restaurant Chor is a fairly busy place popular for its delicious and cheap meals. A regular eating place for Ah-Kong and he would organise for us to have dinner here every time I'm back. And guess what? He'll order the same dishes too - Chinese steamed eggs (also known locally as foo yong tan), steamed silver pomfret with cencaluk (fermented mini shrimps or krill), fried long beans and sweet 'n' sour pork cutlets served with white rice. Even the waiter and waitresses knows him (and his attitude) well. FYI, Ah-Kong used to be a rather influential man during his heydays in this town and I still get glimpses of the pompous, chauvinistic man he once was at times, like when he depicts which table he wants to sit at or the way he calls at the waiter. Sigh...Of course, he wouldn't remember that I've been here before and would ask me how I found the dishes and continued on his story about Singaporeans driving the distance just to have a meal here. And me, the 'good' granddaughter would just nod and smile even though I've heard it umpteen times. I rarely come back so why not just humour the old man? And he seems happy enough telling me the story again and enjoying his meal...
More shopping after breakfast with mum and dad, followed by 'bah kut teh' (literally translates to 'meat bone tea') for lunch in Taman Bukit Pasir. Yum! I miss this meaty pork rib dish that's simmered in Chinese herbs and spices. Definitely too hot for the weather here but I just love it! We had it served with yam rice and small side dishes of stir-fry sweet potato leaves, salted vegetable and vinegar pork trotters (a popular dish for women during confinement and very appetizing). Cost RM35 for the meal for 3 which barely feeds 1 in Wellington. SO cheap!
Brief stop with Mum to pick up Mama and headed over to her friend's boutique clothes shop in Kampung Merdeka. Hmm, didn't see anything I like there - not my style...Dropped Mama home and around 5pm, Mum and I headed to Fo & Fo Beauty Fitness Centre (also partially an Espressions International beauty centre) on Jalan Puteri for me to try their Hot Ceramic Chamber Health Therapy sessions. Mum had several free sessions from her full package so took me along to try it out. She had been emailing me about it before I came back, saying it was somewhat similar a sauna but I had to sit inside a chamber that looked like a large urn. Hmm...
The beauty centre only had 1 chamber so I went ahead for today's treatment while Mum just accompanied me. Before we started the therapy session, the beautician had me stand on a machine that measured not only my weight but also the amount of minerals like protein, fat, water and how fit I was. The result of the initial body check advised that I needed to lose 2kgs of fat and replace it with muscles! Really??!!
We then proceeded into the treatment room where I had to remove all my clothes and put on the disposable shower cap and underwear provided, then climbed into this massive pot/urn aka 'the chamber' which had a stool with a towel on it for me to sit on for the next 30 minutes. Once in, the beautician closed the small door of the chamber and placed a large semi-circle wooden plank to cover the top. All you could see was my head sticking out! The chamber was then turned up to 47 degrees Celcius but interestingly, the urn itself was not hot to the touch. I could feel lots of steam and water dripping from all over my body - not sure if it was just steam or a mixture with sweat from my pores. According to the DVD played for me while I was having the treatment, it is believed that the ceramic urn had healing properties and is able to cure illnesses such a eczema, back pain, fatigue etc. I found it hard to believe though it felt rather nice sitting in a sauna-like environment. During those 30 minutes, I was given 5 cups of mineral water (the water was from a special pot made with the same ceramic properties as the chamber) to sip on. And of course, mum was there chatting with me the whole time :)
Another body check was conducted post-therapy and I've gained 600 grams in water and increased my protein and mineral counts by 0.1%. How bizarre! Have 2 more free sessions to go to later this week. Need to bring my camera in to snap photos of this urn next time!
Dinner tonight was at Restaurant Chor in Kampung Merdeka with my parents and maternal grandparents. Restaurant Chor is a fairly busy place popular for its delicious and cheap meals. A regular eating place for Ah-Kong and he would organise for us to have dinner here every time I'm back. And guess what? He'll order the same dishes too - Chinese steamed eggs (also known locally as foo yong tan), steamed silver pomfret with cencaluk (fermented mini shrimps or krill), fried long beans and sweet 'n' sour pork cutlets served with white rice. Even the waiter and waitresses knows him (and his attitude) well. FYI, Ah-Kong used to be a rather influential man during his heydays in this town and I still get glimpses of the pompous, chauvinistic man he once was at times, like when he depicts which table he wants to sit at or the way he calls at the waiter. Sigh...Of course, he wouldn't remember that I've been here before and would ask me how I found the dishes and continued on his story about Singaporeans driving the distance just to have a meal here. And me, the 'good' granddaughter would just nod and smile even though I've heard it umpteen times. I rarely come back so why not just humour the old man? And he seems happy enough telling me the story again and enjoying his meal...
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